


You’re Pretty Spry, For an Older Fellow

by Alex_StarkRogers84



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bittersweet Ending, Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Grief/Mourning, M/M, Pining Steve Rogers, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-18 16:13:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29120991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alex_StarkRogers84/pseuds/Alex_StarkRogers84
Summary: Inspired by the artwork from the lovely@pineapplebreadson twitter
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 17
Kudos: 104





	You’re Pretty Spry, For an Older Fellow

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! The lovely Jay [@pineapplebreads](https://twitter.com/pineapplebreads) drew this beautiful piece of Silverfox Steve, and I just had to write this short story behind it.
> 
> Here's the link to the art: <https://twitter.com/pineapplebreads/status/1355157500014653440/photo/1>
> 
> It's a sorta sad story, but I hope you guys still enjoy this!

Steve Rogers always knew he’d outlive nearly everyone he held close to his heart, somewhere in the back of his mind. He’s never been brave enough to admit it to himself, in spite of the glaring evidences right before him. He knew one in particular would break his heart beyond any chance of recovery, and yet, he did his best to keep those thoughts away. His Ma had told him a few days before she’d passed, to cherish every moment you have with your loved ones, no matter how long before you get to join them once again.

It’s been two decades since he lost the love of his life, his Tony. Oh, how he loved that man, that miracle, he still does, and cherishes the fact that it hasn’t gotten any lesser. He remembers his husband smiling up at him for the last time from his deathbed. The image will forever be painted in his mind, like the masterpiece it was. Tony looked just as handsome as he did every single day that he lived. Steve remembers the weak grip he held his hand in, yet radiating strength he never thought he could ever have within him.

“Hey, Steve…” Tony had whispered, drawing his attention.

“Yes, Sweetheart?” Steve had smiled.

“Will you make me a promise?” Tony still had those doe eyes, which never failed to hypnotize him.

“Anything for you.”

“Will you love me for the rest of my life?”

Steve had remembered Peggy asking him the same question decades ago, and wasn’t that ironic? Peggy had been battling Alzheimer’s back then, and now, Tony was about to leave him, and yet, Steve was right here, unable to go anywhere. It took every ounce of courage for Steve to not have a breakdown right there.

“I will love you for the rest of _my_ life, and after as well,” Steve promised, taking Tony’s hand and placing the softest of kisses on each knuckle.

“Flatterer,” Tony had teased.

“It’s true,” Steve had smiled.

Tony had passed in his sleep later that night, and Steve had woken up to his cold, unmoving form. He hadn’t cried. He had promised Tony long ago he wouldn’t do that. What he did was to place one final kiss on his husband’s forehead, with a promise to meet him again, whenever that might be.

Sarah and James, their children, had been beyond devastated by their father’s passing, though they knew it was coming, Morgan had been devastated as well. Steve held them all as they mourned, comforting them as he silently grieved for the love of his life. The funeral had been held two days later, with all their loved ones in attendance. Steve kept Tony’s wedding ring for himself as a reminder of who he wanted to find in his afterlife. The rings went on a chain Tony had made for him from the last Iron Man armor he ever built.

\-----

Steve doesn’t understand how he could have been fortunate enough to have a man like Tony Stark love him, especially after their history from the day when they first met, to the day that Tony slammed his arc reactor in his hands, calling him a liar. He knows he’d always been dismissive of him, that he’d always seen Stark, not Tony, not the sweet, caring, loving person that he was underneath all that hard exterior. He hadn’t really seen that Tony until he saw him being a father to Morgan, the kind of father Tony should have had.

Steve hadn’t seen Tony during those five years. Tony had sent out an invite to him, but he hadn’t been brave enough to attend the wedding. Natasha had found him later that night, sobbing quietly in a corner of his room at the Avengers Facility.

“How was the wedding?” Steve had asked the moment she crouched beside him, hands wrapped around her legs.

“It was good. We missed you,” Natasha had answered, only for Steve to scoff in answer. “Tony asked why you weren’t there…”

“Do you honestly believe either of us deserves to be in his presence?” Steve’s voice was calm, but just as scathing, just as derisive, “We aren’t his friends, never were. We tried, and failed spectacularly. We never gave him a chance, Natasha, I never gave him a chance. He didn’t ask for help with the whole Mandarin thing, he couldn’t trust us with Ultron, he couldn’t trust me enough to give me a call on that stupid phone; all because I never gave him a reason to trust the Avengers; I never trusted him. He only ever trusted Bruce, because he was a friend to him. I don’t know if Bruce would have agreed with the Accords if he’d been around, but he sure as hell wouldn’t have let Siberia happen.”

“You love him,” Natasha had stated matter-of-factly.

Steve wasn’t brave enough to admit it to himself, let alone anyone else.

“That’s good,” Natasha had nodded, “because he loves you too.”

Steve hadn’t answered, though he’d hoped it was true. But it was all pointless because Tony was married, so it didn’t matter; his feelings didn’t matter.

Steve had spent all his time trying to help people. No one except Natasha knew it had all been something to keep his mind off Tony. She’d kept him posted about Tony’s life, the birth of his baby girl. Steve looked at how happy the three of them were in that short clip Rhodes had sent her, and his heart broke all over again. He wanted to feel happy for Tony finding some semblance of normalcy after the hell he’d been put through, but some selfish part of him wished he was in Pepper’s place.

“You know you two can still be friends, right?”

“I don’t think I can.”

For the next almost-three-and-a-half years, Steve tried healing his broken heart by helping others heal theirs. The wound was ruthlessly opened once again when he visited Tony’s place with Natasha and Scott. The way Tony flinched at his touch was enough of a confirmation he would never be good enough for the man; he had blown away the many opportunities thrown his way, and life didn’t have any more to spare.

Seeing Tony use the stones, Steve could only question himself why he wasn’t there in his place. Mere hours ago, Tony had asked if he trusted him, and he had finally, after years, been the friend Tony deserved, and now even that was going to be ripped away from him.

It wasn’t. Helen Cho saved the day, or rather, the man who saved the Universe. Her Cradle was successfully able to save his life, though at the cost of his right arm, but Bruce and Shuri were working on a bionic arm for him, in his signature red-and-gold color scheme.

Tony had remained in a coma for nearly a month, and Steve had visited him the first few days, but always stepped out when Pepper was around.

It took Pepper cornering him one day at the hospital for him to admit his feelings out to someone.

“Why do you always walk out when Morgan and I come and visit him?” Pepper had asked him on the sixth day of seeing him behave the way he did.

“It’s nothing. I just don’t want to intrude on your family time,” Steve’s answer had been awkward at best.

“You’re walking away, Steve,” Pepper had smiled, “I know you love him.”

Steve smiled mirthlessly, “Natasha tell you that?”

Pepper shook her head, “It’s written all over your face. You’ve been this way every time I’ve met you, and it has only increased over time.”

“Ma’am, I…” Steve had tried explaining, but Pepper held up a hand, making him shut up.

“You don’t have to explain yourself, Steve, and you definitely don’t have to feel guilty about it,” Pepper spoke, and all but dragged him inside the recovery room to sit and talk. They had enough time with Morgan at school.

“Did the doctors say when he’ll wake?”

Pepper was silent for a while before she answered, “I am going to divorce Tony once he wakes,” she said instead. Steve’s head snapped up to look at her, eyes wide in shock. “Let me explain. Just hear me out first. All these years, I hated Iron Man. I love Tony, but I hated that he kept on going after those suits year after year. I knew why he’s done whatever he has, but I never really tried to understand him. Putting on that suit, he calls it the Rescue armor,” she chuckled, “I finally understood Tony. Looking from the outside, I always thought he was selfish for being a hero, but it is only now that I get he has been nothing but selfless.”

Steve looked at her curiously, “What does that have to do with the divorce?”

“I want Tony to be happy, for once in his life. Yes, he has been happy with me and Morgan, but he still loves you, Captain. He has loved Steve Rogers since he was a teenager, in spite of his father. Mind you, I did not say Captain America, I said Steve Rogers. No one except Rhodey and I know, and now you. He still loves you, even after the history you two have. I will always love him, and I will always be his best friend, and the CEO of the company with his name on it. I am not saying he settled for me, but I’d like if the two of you gave it a try.”

Steve stayed silent for a while before telling her he needed to think about it. She agreed with a smile, and a warning that if he ever hurt Tony again, she would make him suffer personally. Returning to his apartment in Brooklyn, he finally talked to Natasha about his feelings, and two days later, agreed to give him and Tony a try.

Two years’ worth of dating, and one month of being engaged, Steve Rogers and Tony Stark tied the knot on June 16th, 2025, at the Avengers Tower, right where the Iron Man suit would assemble. The wedding was attended by close friends and family. Pepper had practically bullied Tony into letting her officiate the wedding.

Nearly five years later, the couple welcomed their twins, Sarah Maria, and James Phillip Stark-Rogers. Steve had been so nervous about being a father, he didn’t know what to do. It was Tony who assured him that he’d been brilliant with Morgan, and he’d be just as good with the twins too.

\-----

That had been fifty years ago. The twins celebrated their fiftieth birthday today, but there was no one in the family who didn’t miss Tony just as much as they did for the past twenty years. Sarah and James had both had their own families, Morgan too, and Steve had found himself surrounded by half a dozen grandkids running and playing with their favorite grandpa.

He still goes to the gym, purely because he can, and he has nothing better to do since his retirement following Tony’s passing. He got to lead a full life, and was surrounded by his children and grandchildren during his last days, and that was more than Steve could ask for.

He’s just done demolishing his last punching bag for the day and is busy unwrapping the bandages on his hands when he hears someone talk to him.

It’s a new kid, probably his first day at the gym. “You’re pretty spry, for an older fellow…” These days, Steve’s gotten used to people not recognizing him right away as Captain America. The Captain America the world has known was clean shaven and without a single tattoo in sight. By the time he’d married Tony, the world had already known Captain America as Sam Wilson, and that Steve Rogers had stepped down from the mantle. The Steve Rogers of the present is nothing like the one that came out of the ice, and somewhat different from the one who married Tony Stark. The Steve Rogers of today has a myriad of tattoos all over his body, each bearing a deep meaning for him, a thick beard, and long hair, all of which have now greyed, though most of it has been the effect of losing Tony rather than the serum’s enhancements subsiding.

The moment those words fell on his ears, his mind was instantly thrown back to the day when he and Tony had first spoken. He had been so naïve back then, limiting who Tony was to only what he’d seen from Natasha’s grossly incomplete assessment, and the tabloids. He bites back a tear before he manages to offer an answer, “I wish I wasn’t, kid. I’m too spry for my own good,” he says as he finishes unwrapping the bandages. He hurries to tie up his hair and put on a tee before rushing out.

Steve feels the urge to visit Tony’s grave. On most days, he manages to keep it under control, but something about today is really bothersome, and he can’t help but give in. He arrives at the church in record time, and it doesn’t take him longer than a minute to find the place where he is buried, right beside Ana and Edwin Jarvis, possibly the only people apart from his mother who truly cared for him as a child.

“Hey Tony. Can you believe Sarah and James turned fifty yesterday? Who would have thought I’d live to see my kids’ fiftieth birthday? Maybe you did, because I sure as hell didn’t,” he chuckles even as a tear slips down his cheek. “It hasn’t been easy, not having you around. I don’t know how I managed to go on these past twenty years. I guess… I guess I just got used to not having you around, and believe me, it’s really hard, but I’m sure you can tell with the way I’ve greyed. Sarah keeps saying you’d find this look sexy,” there was a minute of silence before Steve could utter his next words, “would you…find my new look sexy? I miss you, Sweetheart, I miss you so much. There’s nothing I want more than to be with you right away; that’s been on my mind since you left me. But I still keep in mind the promise I made you. I’ll join you when it’s time, and not a moment before,” his voice now holds a tremor as he tries to push the words out as his hands are busy clutching at the wedding rings around his neck, “I don’t know how much longer I can take this, but I’m trying to do my best, I promise you.”

“Pops,” Steve hears his son’s voice as he turns around to see James walk over to join him.

“Hey, son. What brings you here?”

“Uncle Bucky called to say you didn’t join him for your daily chess game… are you okay?”

Steve wants to tell him how someone reminded him of the first time he met Tony. “I’m okay,” he says instead, “let’s get home.”

\-----

Fifteen years later:

Steve lives a healthy life to near the end of the twenty-first century. He had begun to notice the effects of the serum to subside faster over the last few years. He is no longer built like the Super Soldier he used to be what feels like eons ago, though he’s not back to being skinny either. He looks like any old man pushing ninety. The day he passes, is the day he has been looking forward to with the nervous excitement of a child, for the past thirty-five years. _It’s almost time, Tony. I’m coming home_ , he thinks every waking minute. Tony has been Steve’s home since the day Pepper convinced him to get a divorce and start seeing him.

Steve is surrounded by his kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids as well. He can tell the little ones are practically clueless about what is about to happen, but then little Tony says something to almost make him cry.

“Granpabby don’t go…” the four-year-old grandson of James says, the same doe eyes brimming with tears, and wobbly lips.

“I gotta go, my little Iron Man,” Steve comforts him, “your other granpabby is calling me. He has been waiting for me for a long time now, and he’s getting cranky,” that makes everyone in the room chuckle through their tears. “How about this? I will tell your granpabby Tony stories from your preschool, and make him jealous how much smarter you are than him. Deal?”

Little Tony manages a jerky nod in response, “Deal.”

\-----

The next time Steve wakes up, he finds himself in the Penthouse of Avengers Tower. The sky outside is lit orange, just like it was on their wedding day.

“You’re pretty spry, for an older fellow,” he hears a very familiar voice call out from behind him, one he’s been yearning to hear for ages. “What’s your thing? Pilates?”

Steve whirls around to see the love of his life standing right before him, dressed in the same tuxedo as their wedding day. He looks just as young. “There’s this guy I love. He’s my thing,” he answers, grinning from ear to ear.

“Uh huh, then why don’t you change into something decent for him?” a snap of fingers, and Steve finds himself dressed in his tuxedo from the wedding day.

“What is this?” Steve asks, curious, yet excited.

“Our happily ever afterlife. I picked out the wedding day in the hopes you might like it. It is the happiest day of my life.”

“It’s the happiest day of my life too.”

Tony nods, “Good, because this can be permanent.” They hold hands, walking up to the ramp where they shared their first kiss as husbands. “First kiss of the afterlife?” he asks, quirking an eyebrow.

“Anything for you.”

“But first, rings.” Tony points at Steve’s chest, where the wedding rings hang, the same ones made of metal from Steve’s shield and Tony’s Iron Man armor.

Steve almost cries as he slips the ring onto Tony’s finger, but Tony’s there holding his hand, and they finally kiss, their first kiss of the afterlife. Steve has waited to be home for the past thirty-five years, and he’s finally home.

**Author's Note:**

> Apologies for the broken links. I've fixed them! Go and see their art right away and show your love❤


End file.
